A Ryan Evans Romance
by Malo919
Summary: Ryan Evans' life, most specifically starting with his first betrayal towards his sister. What happens when a certain group of Wildcats discover Sharpay's weakness may just be her perfect little brother? Watch as they convert him to the 'Dark Side', and as he finally finds acceptance, with maybe a little Romance. Chyan.
1. Prologue

**Hey. This is the first time I've attempted a Chyan, as I've heard people call it. So, don't flame, for I feed them to my pet dragon, Firebolt. He's named after Harry's best broom stick ever. (Wait, did that have some sexual innuendo?) Tell me watcha think.**

**Warning: This contains Chyan, also known as Ryan Evans/Chad D, also known as Slash. Read at your own risk. Oh, and I won't update, for all those people who think I should, until you can find some way to get me at least one GOOD review. It'll go up later. If you don't review enough by a certain time, I'll post it when I feel like it. Is there anything I'm forgetting?**

**Ah yes. The infamous Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical. If I did, then I'd own Zac Effron and Corbin Bleu, and all the others, make it into one giant gay romance. Except with Troy and Gabriella. They belong together.**

East High hadn't had a musical with a kissing scene for two years. That means four musicals without one kiss. Not even with minor characters.

Sad, I know.

Oh, but of course you don't know who I am. Ryan Evans. You, of course, recognise the name as 'Sharpay's younger brother.' Everyone does. But I'm only younger by less than two minutes!

I'll show you just how in the shadows I am when it comes to me and my twin.

Sharpay was born first. I followed not two minutes after. From then on, we were inseparable. To me, at least. To Shar, this meant I was her personal slave.

Don't get me wrong, she's really a nice person, and doesn't really treat me like a slave. She does that to everyone. You just have to dig for the good person thing.

No one believes Zeke when he says it, either.

Anyways, Sharpay and I grew up in Albuquerque (No idea if I spelled that right) until we were five. Then we moved to Newport, because mom didn't like her job anymore and dad got another promotion.

Newport was a fresh start for all of us. Sharpay got to join a drama club. Mom was revered as the baking goddess she is. Dad was famed for his record dealings, and his golf prowess.

Me? I joined the baseball team. I played basketball and football with dad in my free time.

But the biggest thing I found out about myself wasn't that I could be a jock. No, it was an Elvis Presley dance video.

Mom and dad filmed it, and Shar insists we play it every year on my birthday.

It was the day after me and Shar's eighth birthday. Two years ago, upon coming to Newport, I was diagnosed with dad's dyslexia. But that isn't the point. Just saying it now while I have the time. So, mom had given me the tape. I was in the living room, Shar and mom and dad were in the hall, watching 'secretly'. I had known they were there though.

The first song came on. It... strangely wasn't Elvis. It was a spicy salsa song. I closed my eyes for a minute, no idea what I was doing. I just lost myself in the beat. Mom started taping here.

I opened my eyes to look at the spacious room. What nearly freaked me out was that I saw what appeared to be a ghost of myself, a slight vision, doing some spicy dance moves to match the song. So, me being eight years old and very naive, I stepped right where the ghost of me was supposed to be, and did all the things it did. I did it all exactly. Now, you may think that this was just some adorable childhood memory of mine. Well, yes, but it was also the start. When the song was over, mom came rushing in with the video camera, and showed me the tape. What amazed me, amazed all of the people it was shown to, was that I was doing dance steps no thirty year old expert could match, much less surpass.

I told dad about the ghost. For some reason, he was really excited. I have no clue why to this day. But apparently, I was now his and mom's little star dancer, the one they wanted to show off. Shar wasn't jealous then. She just wanted me to show her the moves. I found it was easy to do it, even without the music or the ghost.

Then, next birthday, dad got me a sing along tape. I didn't know that sing along tapes didn't have the lyrics, just showed what you were supposed to sing. This year, we invited a bunch of old people. I was nervous. I didn't like talking to people (never had any real friends or experience in making them when I was nine), and we had never invited anyone over before.

I was upset, at first, when I found out that the tapes didn't have any words coming out. So, I decided with my nine-year-old logic that I would just have to sing. So, I started going along with the tapes. I had watched Disney movies a thousand times before, so I knew all the words by heart. The adults kept on gasping, for no reason. And when I went along with the dance parts, still singing, they were stunned. I found out later they were talent searchers. And I was talented as heck to them. To me, I was just being me. It wasn't very exciting.

So when I went to America's Got Talent, won, and we became rich as donkeys(DON'T QUESTION ME!). That was after a year of practice. I had done my 'Just Can't Wait to Be King' song and dance, and won over the crowd and judges like that! (Insert snapping of fingers here)

So I was ten, about two days after winning America's Got Talent. And this was the day when I found out I had the perfect combination. Song, Dance, and Act! It was just a small little thing. Dad took me and Shar to his studio to watch some recording. It was when they were trying to do a Broadway version of Lion King 2. The actor for Kovu sucked, and I showed Shar, as she was laughing at me, how the guy should have been doing it. And my dad was watching. He literally forced me into the costume to 'show me off.' Then, I proceeded to be the younger version of Kovu. I played it pretty well. And I gave my cookies to the kid who was supposed to play Kovu, when he started crying. Shar called me a wuss. Seeing that kid's face brighten up like stars made me feel like a winner.

To answer your next question, yes, I am gay. Why the hell does that matter?

Anyway, eleven was the year Shar started getting jealous of me. I always directed the light to her when I could, but when you win America's Got Talent three times in a row, it's really hard.

Which was why, when we moved back to Alb, it was one of the best things ever.

Besides my dyslexia, acting, dancing, and singing, I still had to go to baseball. I didn't have to go to any dance practice anyway, so don't think I'm one of those insane people that take on too much. I was already writing and performing my own productions then, even if it was just to a neighborhood, it was aired on tv. I was big news. The papers said I was their pride and joy. Mr Perfect, at their service. And I was, I guess. That's what people told me. But dad said they just want to mess me up, so not to ever listen to them. Called them critics.

Having a brother who was known all over town, and struggling with your own social life, Shar never liked me much till we hit our teens. I was twelve when I realized what I had to do. So I started supporting her more than me, and that's what got me into this mess.

The coach told me I was slacking too much when paying attention to my sis. I said family always comes first, no matter what. Things got heated, and the next thing I know, I'm kicked off the team for being too much of a gaylord. I didn't know what it meant then, but you'd be surprised how much you learn when the people who used to adore you start laughing at you. Then I started liking the shadows. I still competed in America's Got Talent, stopped going to games, played sports with dad over the summer or in our backyard, focused more on starting Shar's career, and bada-bing-bada-boom. We left the neighborhood just in time for our first year of high school back at East High. The neighborhood had flourished while we were there. Now that we, meaning I, was gone, Newport lost everything. They got decidedly less cocky, arrogant, and full of themselves. Sent me letters apologizing for humiliating me. It didn't help. No, not at all. But it's good to know there's somewhere you can go when no one else wants you. Just in case.

When Shar and I went to East High, I made sure to be Shar's little poodle. Made myself stand more in the background as we took over the High in our first week. Shar was happy. I was in the shadows with no one laughing at me, secretly smiling at my little scheme. No one knew me. It was Sharpay and What's-his-name. We were all happy.

Then Gabriella and Troy came along. It all went to hell. My perfectly devised scheme fell apart.

But watching this scene, I thought, grinning, a newer, better one had come up.


	2. Chapter 1

This was so annoying.

Shar had just gotten a text from someone whom she just had to meet in the parking lot, and that person had apparently requested my presence. That was not the annoying part. I would have gone with Shar anyway.

The annoying part was walking down the hall with a bunch of boys hopped up on end of vacation jitters and hormones, watching my sister, all exclaiming either "_Damn_!" "_Wow_" or sighing like little puppies. I looked each and every one in the eye, and they backed down.

Shar was speedwalking while texting the person who had texted her back, not even looking at anyone around her, me following like I was born to. The difference? I smiled at everyone in that 'annoyingly friendly and nice way' as Shar puts it. Most of the girls stared at me weirdly (I didn't know what was going on there, and probably never would, because Shar refused to 'point out the obvious' as she puts it), and the guys either just stared at Sharpay or nodded at me in greeting. I've been told by my parents that my smile's contagious, as is my passion for dancing. Maybe that was why everyone smiled at me that way... Meh, just shrug it off.

We passed a group of jocks on our way in, and I smiled at them, too, but Shar just ignored them. A couple nodded at me, unable to resist the smile (seriously, how did I do that?) but Chad Danforth, Troy Bolton, and Zeke Baylor were too busy commenting on my sister.

"Ooh, the Ice Princess has returned from the North Pole," and "You know, she probably spent the holidays like she always does. Shopping for mirrors." then a group "Ooh!" was all I heard before following my sis. I think Taylor McHessie might have said something about the annoying jocks to her friends, but I couldn't just stick around when my sister was waiting for me in the lot with an impatient look on her face. The thing I do know was that none of them said anything about me.

The meeting in the lot wasn't anything really special. Some other twins, sisters, wanted to meet up with Shar to get her opinion on their makeup, as that was the only thing they were unsure of this morning. Shar instantly turned to me. I was the one who did her makeup in the morning.

"Ryan, these girls need some serious help. One of them tried to combine rose-pink blush with orange eyeshadow!" I winced. Never do that. Ever.

"Makeup bag." I said. Shar glares at my official tone of voice, but hands me the bag anyway. I wasn't going to walk around school with a makeup bag saying things like, 'Oh my _God_, your eyeshadow _totally_ doesn't match your shoes! Here, let _me_..' No! Anyway, I turn to the first girl and give her the critical once over. She and her friend giggle over my gaze, something I don't understand and never will, and I say, "With that skin tone and your dress... Well, you're an autumn. Yellow eyeshadow, beige lipstick and blush." The next girl eagerly steps forward when I'm done, and I can't help but raise my eyebrows. Why the _hell_ did she _want_ me to do her makeup that bad? You would think she'd be insulted that a boy could do makeup better than her Sheesh. "Hmm... Maybe a winter look... Yes, pink... definitely." They were done, Shar was impatient, and it was time to go in for class.

Before I left with Shar, I took a three-sixty degree sweep of the area. Finding empty of any students, I relaxed. Thank God no one knew about my talents in makeup. And that we swore the twins to secrecy, even if everyone in the entire school asked who had done their makeup. Imagine if everyone found out I had the makings of a makeup artist- _SHUDDER_! Either way, I would have to have been good with makeup. Shar's terrible with it, and being in a household where girls rule the world... _SHUDDER AGAIN_! Let's just say there are things I _don't_ want to re-live.

I was already bisexual from having to listen to Shar fuss about how cute some guy was. I didn't need everyone to know anything like that. _

In homeroom, jocks were passing around a basket ball (I ignored the impulse to show them the correct way to pass a ball), nerds were spread out with their books, a new girl was taking the seat behind me (I had to remember to introduce myself later), and Shar was sitting in front of me, talking about our auditions (though I don't know exactly what, as I was daydreaming again; she was starting to get frustrated though, so I'd have to come up with something soon, lest she realize I wasn't paying attention to her), and Miss Darbus was standing in the front, going over some papers (how were there already papers to grade? It was only one day after the holidays!)

Right when the new girl passed my desk, Shar jumped up to go see Troy Bolton, her crush since coming here, and I turned around to finally introduce myself.

"Hi! I'm Ryan Evans." The girl smiled and took my offered hand.

"Hi, I'm Gabriella Montez."

"You're new here, right? Where did you move from?"

"Some town in New York. I can't really remember the name though. We move around so much that it's all a blur."

I smiled in sympathy and said, "Well, hopefully you can stay here long enough to have a chance to participate in the school clubs. They're really fun around here. Sports clubs, scholastic clubs, drama clubs- everything really." Gabriella smiled.

"I won't be signing up for anything yet, though. I need to get used to the new curriculum."

"Oh, for that you might wanna see Taylor McHessie, East High's resident genius. She'll be happy to help a newcomer."

"Thanks. Hey, after this do you know where the math room is?"

"All the math rooms are down the same hall. I have math after this, too. I can walk you there, if you don't mind having to talk to my sister. She can be a little..."

"Overbearing?" Gabriella suggested. I shook my head with a grin.

"I was going to say a bit like a stuck-up princess who thinks everything should go her way." We both laughed, and Gabriella nodded.

"I would love to meet your overbearing, stuck-up princess of a sister. So long as you don't mind having to show me all around the school in free period." I laughed.

"Well, we all have kinda the same schedule, so when you have free period, I have free period. I guess I could work something out. Oh, but I have to stop at the auditorium. My sister and I've starred in all the school musicals since we came here, and she wants me to work on our dance routine for our song. You don't mind, do you?" Gabriella shook her head.

"Not at all. You can show me around a bit, and then we can head to the auditorium. I guess while we're there you can work on the routine and I can try and get some homework done." I smiled again.

"Cool. I have free period after my science class, where do I have to go to get you?"

"Umm..." She checked her schedule for a minute, and then looked up at me. "I have it after my English class in room three oh five."

Grinning yet again, I said, "Great. See you later." Homeroom started, and I turned to the front.

"I trust you all had splendid holidays," Miss Darbus started. "Check the sign-up sheets in the lobby for new activities, Mister Bolton. Especially our winter musicale. We will have singles auditions for our supporting roles and pairs auditions for our two leads." She smiled at me and Shar, but Chad Danforth made a gagging sound and pointed his thumb down, and she turned to him. "Mister Danforth, this is a place of learning, not a hockey arena." I ached to tell her it was hockey 'rink', and that a basketball was for... well, basketball, and that there was no sound in hockey that related to what Chad had done, but I clamped my mouth shut. Chad smartly didn't say anything in response, but clutched his basketball tighter to his chest. "There is also a final sign-up sheet for next week's scholastic decathlon competition." I repressed a wince. That was something I'd never be able to do, as a result of my dyslexia. Shar patted my hand sympathetically, but didn't turn around. No one could know about my dyslexia. "Chem club president Taylor McHessie can answer all of your questions about that." But I didn't have to be a genius to see how Chad grinned at her. I suppressed a laugh. He was so clueless.

I looked over at the man in question, only to see him staring ahead at Troy, who had his phone out, which was ringing. I had no idea how I'd missed the ringing sound, but there appeared to be more than one cell ringing.

"Ah," Miss Darbus said, "I see the cell phone menace has returned to our crucible of learning." Shar checked her phone, and turned around to see me.

"Is it your phone?" she asked, and I obliged, taking it out only to shake my head. And look up to see Miss Darbus standing over us.

"Sharpay and Ryan, cell phones, and I will see you two in detention." Shar gasped, but I just gave up my phone with an apologetic grimace. Miss Darbus nodded once at me, and I knew she wasn't going to hold it against me for something Shar made me do. But I still had to go to detention...

She walked past me to Gabriella, who was checking her phone, too. "We have zero tolerance for cell phones in class, so, we will get to know each other in detention. Cell phone. And welcome to East High Miss Montez." Gabriella gave it up willingly, and turned to the front with a face that said she was close to crying. She met my eyes, however, and I smiled at her sympathetically. She reluctantly allowed her own lips to smile, and I noticed how pretty she really was. Pretty- but not my type. I wasn't one for that dark of hair or eyes.

I abruptly turned my attention to the front when Miss Darbus said, "Mister Bolton, I see your phone is involved. So we will see you in detention as well." That would have been the end of it, had Chad decided to be an idiot.

"That's not even a possibility, Miss Darbus, Your Honor, see, 'cause we have basketball practice and Troy..." he trailed off as Miss Darbus turned to him sharply.

"Ah, that will be fifteen minutes for you too, Mister Danforth. Count 'em." Then Taylor McHessie made that dumbest move in all of her life. She commented.

"That could be tough for Chad, since he probably can't count that high." I shook my head as Chad glared at her and her nerds laughed. For the smartest girl in school, she really could be a dumb person sometimes.

Sure enough, "Taylor McHessie, fifteen minutes." Taylor gasped, as though she couldn't have predicted that. "Shall the carnage continue? Holidays are over, people. Way over. Now, any more comments, questions?" If there was, no one was dumb enough to say anything.

Except Jason Cross. "How were your holidays, Miss Darbus?" Everyone groaned and glared at him. Except me, as I was too busy thinking about how cutely, adorably stupid that boy was. Shar sent me a look at my face, and I smoothed my expression while no one was looking. "What?" Jason asked, and I had to force my features to smooth into my normal friendly, open face instead of my puppy-love face.

Yes, I had a crush on idiot Jason Cross. So? He was an adorable idiot.

Just then, the bell rang, and Shar leaped up, forcing me to struggle out of my chair. I turned to Gabriella to take her to the math room, and she smiled at me. Shar just sent a hard look at me, which I ignored.

Before I could wait for her, though, Shar pulled me away from Gabriella. I sent her a pleading, apologetic look, and she smiled sympathetically and followed us out the door. But before she could rescue me from my sister's clutches ("I can't believe she gave us detention for making sure our phones were off! It isn't like we called or messaged anybody!"), Troy Bolton started talking to her eagerly. I could tell already that he had a crush. I sighed and turned to my sister, finally giving in to her demands for attention.

"At least Bolton's gonna be there." In sync, we turned back around to look at the jock in question, sighing a little. Yes, I had a crush on Jason Cross. Did that mean I couldn't appreciate it when another guy or girl looked hot?

"I want him." Shar moaned. I nodded in agreement.

"He's no..." I paused to see if anyone was listening. No one was even within five feet of me. "He's no Jason Cross, but..." Shar made a strangled noise and speedwalked further ahead to pause beside the bulletin board with the sign-up sheets.

"Ryan, how many times have I told you to get ahold of that stupid crush of yours and-" Shar suddenly, abruptly, stopped and noticed Gabriella and Troy looking at the other side of the bulletin board. The one with the list for people who wanted to audition for the winter musicale. "What are those two doing, looking at the list?" she asked me fiercely.

"Calm down, Shar, Troy hasn't auditioned in a school play ever, and Gabriella told me she wasn't planning on signing up for anything for a while. And besides, do you think anyone in this entire school could beat us?" Shar looked appeased, but only slightly. She thought for a moment, before grinning and pulling out a pink Sharpie-sparkle pen. I had one in blue. But the only time I used mine was when we signed up for the pairs auditions. Shar had recently used her to poke at someone's eye because they didn't like her scarf. No one commented on her clothes while she was in hearing range anymore. So I was reasonably alarmed when she smiled at me innocently. Then she whipped around to face Troy and Gabriella, saying, "What's 'Impossible' Troy? I wouldn't think 'impossible' was even in your vocabulary." I rolled my eyes, but stopped at her now cold tone. She had only just noticed Gabriella? "Oh. So nice of you to show our new classmate around." She then proceeded to uncap the Sharpie-sparkle pen. I almost cried out and jumped in front of the poor new girl, but Shar only turned calmly to the auditions board and wrote her name in large letters, covering all of the page:

Sharpay Evans.

I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes as I smiled and stepped forward.

"Hey, sis, whatcha doing?" I pretended to just notice the auditions board. "Oh. Well, come on, Gabby. I promised to show you to the math room, right?" Gabriella looked relieved to nod and get away from Shar. It was understandable. But before we walked away, I said, "Oh! Almost forgot." and I added to Sharpay's name:

and Ryan Evans.

I just barely and time to notice that my writing was much neater than Shar's when the girl in question was glaring daggers at me. I calmly smiled at her, and turned to walk with Gabriella to the math rooms.

"That's your sister?" she asked in amazement. I nodded sorrowfully, sighing a bit.

"She's really a nice person. You just have to dig for that a bit. I think she was worried about you and Troy being competition for the musical. She wanted to seem intimidating." Gabriella nodded, giggling for no reason as far as I could see. I shrugged. Women. We'd never understand them.

"I just find it hard to believe that she could give such a horrible first impression just because of a musical." I shrugged.

"Me and Shar devoted our lives to drama. Nothing else. Take that away, and it seems like we don't have anything else left." Understanding came into her soft brown eyes, and she smiled at me in a weird way.

"Well... I'm sure you and her will do great at auditions." I nodded, smiling.

"Oh, and don't look forward to detention with Miss Darbus. She's probably gonna give us a speech about her 'chapel of the arts' and then set us to designing costumes and painting sets." Gabriella giggled before stopping at her designated room. She waited for me to go in to the room, and I realized I would have to have been in her class, seeing as we are in the same year. I suddenly began to feel very nervous.

"Oh, I don't take math at this level." I made an indiscreet gesture to the Special Ed math room, and her eyes widened. (A/N: I know dyslexia is when you can't read or write good, but let's pretend it also means that you can't recognize numbers either. Yeah, pretend he has dyslexia and dyscalculia. If I spelled that right...)

"Oh... Well, I'll see you later." I nodded awkwardly. When she went in, I groaned. This was why I didn't talk to anyone.

I had thought that she, being a new student, could actually be a friend of mine, and maybe she could, but I still was nervous about other people knowing. Maybe she'd not tell anyone. Who would she tell? It isn't like anyone would ask about me, and she is a new student. But, I thought, if anyone else talks to me, I might just lose it.

What had I gotten myself into this time? Sure, she was nice, but they all were until they found out you were dumber than a sack of doorknobs. In the end, everyone treats you differently.


	3. Chapter 2

Things were getting shifty here at East High.

The least important being the fact that the lasagna on the first day back tasted better than it usually did, according to a conversation I'd overheard this morning during history with Mister Stevenson. (All of my classes are Special Ed.)

The thing of mild importance was that Gabriella hadn't planned on telling anyone about my dyslexia, and wouldn't anyway, now that I told her I wanted it as secret as possible. She'd told me when we passed in the hall before my science class.

But the thing of most importance was what was happening right now.

I was casually leaning against a statue of our Wildcat, watching some girl who I don't know the name of but was very attractive, when I noticed Troy Bolton slinking over to the winter musical auditions list. My first thought was 'God, look at that perfect..." But then I realized he had no Jason Cross around him, which meant no Army of Jocks trying to stop him from doing something they think he'd regret. Like sign up for a musical.

But Troy didn't sign up to audition. No, he just leaned in and inspected the list a couple of times. This was weird. then he just nodded, appearing satisfied, and left for his next class.

Speedwalking to the board to see if there was anything special there (had someone erased me and Shar's names or something? That would have to be impossible, as they were in Sharpie-sparkle pens), but I had to catch Shar as she was on her way to her own next class. I pulled her forcibly to the list, her not struggling one bit, but still protesting the need to get to class as 'Mister Darwit will kill me if I'm late again, and it'll be all your fault!'

I stopped her with eight words: "Troy Bolton was looking at our auditions list."

"Again?" she asked. I nodded. "Him and that new girl, both looking at the list..." This, I already knew, but the coldness in Shar's voice when she mentioned Gabriella...

What would Shar say if she found out I had agreed to show her around the school? Would she think I was betraying her? What would she do to protect her 'precious baby bro,' as she referred to me as? Then I remembered Gabby's face when Miss Darbus had said she had detention. And the difference between that face, and when he had come to her rescue when Sharpay was intimidating her. It had felt... nice to stand up for the new girl. Felt right. And I was always someone to do what I felt was right. So, even if Shar didn't approve, I'd still be friends with Gabriella Montez.

Shar huffed and stomped away, and I realized she had asked me something, but all I had done was stay in Daydream Land again. Oh well. She should be used to it by now. But I still followed her with my head bent and mouth in an apologetic grimace. She caught sight of my newly miserable expression and softened completely. It wasn't my fault I had trouble focusing.

We had a few minutes before our next class (ten; the teachers believed it would be easier on us if we came early- six o'clock am- and had a lot of time to do what we needed, and still end the day at about the same time other schools did), and Shar dragged me into a computer lab to look something up. I gave her a confused look, which had some nerds nearby sigh (even the boys- it was freaking me out more and more every time), but she just ignored me in favor of starting up a search and typing in 'Gabriella Montez.' Now I was sending her panicked looks. Some things didn't need meddling in. She sent me a look, and I switched my expression to uncaring, while she looked at one of her discoveries. I looked closer too. Even with my dyslexia, it wasn't hard to make out the scholastic award in Gabby's hands.

"Wow. And Einsteinette. So why do you think she's interested in our musical?" Something was going on here... something to do with Shar and my new (and only) friend. What...

"I'm not sure that she is. And we needn't concern ourselves with amateurs." For a moment, I thought she had finally gotten over her need for others approval. "But..." And then that moment ended. "There is no harm in making certain that Gabriella's welcome to school activities that are... well, appropriate for her." I nodded uncomfortably. This didn't seem fair, and I didn't like things that weren't fair. Gabriella had told me she wasn't going to sign up for anything yet, and this seemed like going behind her back. Shouldn't we check to see if she was okay with joining the team I thought Shar was talking about? But before I could suggest more fair play, Shar turned and started printing copies of the article we had found. She smiled and took them, leaving me behind. I sighed. No going back on this now. Maybe I could find some way to appease both Shar and Gabby when the time came... Even if they didn't know I had something to do with it.

"After all," I heard Shar call from the doorway, "She loves pie." I must have looked confused for a second, because she rolled her eyes and pointed to the Einsteinette. I was still confused. _

We were in detention, Miss Darbus style. For people who weren't used to being back here, it must have been hectic.

"Gold! More gold!"

"Pain, paint! Let's go!"

"Move the camel backstage left! No, Ryan, left. That's right! Now get back to painting that stepladder!"

"Are you using moonshadow silver or diamond? No, no, no, that needs to be moonshadow silver!"

All of this within five minutes.

Maybe I should start from the beginning.

Shar was, of course, complaining to me while ordering around the techies. Again.

"I don't see why she had to take our phones away! It's totally unfair. You, yes you, that color is not going to work! We decided on pink and black, not pink and red! How can you not tell the difference? Are you color blind? Anyway, it's totally unfair! You would think she'd at least give us some leeway, as we are co-presidents of the drama club. No, we need hand mics this time, not headsets. Yes, hand mics. What part of that are you not understanding? And we were only checking to see if they were off! How is that a crime?" I tried to pay attention to her, but I couldn't focus enough. Shar knew that. In between talking to me and ordering the techies around, it was hard to know when something was directed at me, and which particular techie she was talking to, so I could send him or her an apologetic look. I settled for all of them.

We had to wait for Miss Darbus, and the other people in detention.

Troy and Chad came after us. With a basketball.

"I hate detention with Darbus, man. It's your fault we're here in the first place."

BANG! Yep, they definitely had brought a basketball with them.

"You've said that eighteen times now. Can you just drop it?"

BANG! BANG! BANG! My ears were hurting by the time Chad said, "It's still all your fault."

Then Shar just had to jump in on Troy's defence. "Of course it's not Troy's fault. It's that Gabriella girl's for starting it all." Troy straightened sharply.

"It wasn't Gabriella's fault."

"Then whose fault was it, Troy?" Shar was clearly taking an immense liking just for being able to talk to Troy. I wasn't allowed to say anything. My mouth couldn't speak to anyone besides Shar, Gabriella (apparently) and Miss Darbus.

"Does it have to be anyone's fault? Can't we just agree that..." Whatever he was about to say was drowned out by Chad banging the ball on the stage.

"Wow," he said, ''there's a loud echo in here." He tried banging the ball a few more times.

BANG! BANG! I covered my ears and whimpered. Their eyes shot to me. While Shar glared at them for causing hurt to her precious baby brother, their eyes glazed over for a half a second. Chad banged the ball again. I whimpered. Again.

"Stop that! It's hurting his ears!" Chad held the ball to his chest for a minute. But right when I put my hands down, he banged the ball louder than ever.

BANG! I couldn't help it. I curled into a little ball, covered my ears with my hands, and couldn't stop whimpering. Yes, I really am very manly, aren't I?

"Dude, stop it. It's hurting him." Troy emphasized his point of 'stop it' by taking the ball from Chad. I was still whimpering. Shar ran down to the seats, off of the stage, to put her arm around me, making 'shshshsh' noises.

I didn't hear or see Chad when he said, "But he looks so cute when he whimpers." And then proceed to blush. Troy looked at me, shrugged, and said, "Okay, you got me there. But still." Chad sighed.

At least, I was told he did by Shar. I was still whimpering my guts out. There was a funny ringing in my ears.

The ringing was gone by the time Miss Darbus was there, though, so I couldn't really complain.

Miss Darbus set her things down on a table and looked at us through her glasses.

"There are only four of you. Who's missing?"

"Gabriella Montez and Taylor McHessie, Miss Darbus." On cue, Taylor and my newest (only) friend came in. I smiled at them, but Shar elbowed me in the stomach, so I dropped it. At least Gabriella had seen it before it went away.

"We're so sorry, Miss Darbus. Taylor needed to talk to me about something important, but I had to ask my History teacher where to go to find..." Gabby trailed off as Miss Darbus held up a hand. I sent her an apologetic look and nodded subtly to Shar when she looked at me. Shar hadn't let me take Gabby around the school because we needed to rehearse our number for auditions. Gabby smiled at me sympathetically, for reasons I didn't fully understand. Troy and Chad and Shar were looking between us weirdly.

"Yes, Miss Montez, I understand. But don't let it happen again. The theatre is a place for timeliness. Not tardiness." Gabriella and Taylor nodded meekly. Well, Gabby did at least. Taylor seemed too excited about something. And I thought I knew what that something was.

"Now..." Shar put her hand up before Miss Darbus could start. "Yes, Miss Evans?"

"I just feel that I have to say I am looking forward to this detention's learning experience. Aren't you, Ryan?" Shar turned to me sharply. I pasted a fake smile on my face.

"Of course! What better way to spend detention than painting sets and designing costumes? It has to be one of my life's greatest ambitions, aside from starring in this year's musicale." Shar raised an eyebrow at my absolutely fake tone (up until the end when I said I wanted to be in the musicale), but Miss Darbus believed every second of it. I guess I'm too good of an actor if I can fool the acting teacher.

When Miss Darbus walked away, supposedly to get something for our detention, I turned to Shar.

"Why?" She rolled her eyes.

"Darbus was obviously about to start another of her 'chapel of the arts' speeches. Do you want to listen to that?"

"No, not really." My eyes widened. "Oooooh..." The girls giggled at my confused face. Which confused me even more, and made them giggle even more.

"Yeah. Oh." Chad snorted, and Shar growled at him. He looked terrified for a second, before straightening his shoulders and glaring right back at her with not-so-equal intensity.

Chad gave into the staring contest first. As though their was actually a chance.

We were assigned our things (I had to paint a stepladder goldenrod. Why? No clue.), and on my way to said stepladder, I heard Chad muttering to Troy, "Dude, since when does Ryan Evans talk?" And saw Troy shrugged. When they noticed me watching, they not-so-innocently turned to their tree, which they were supposed to be decorating. Again, why? And again, I have no clue.

Gabby was set to painting a crescent moon, just a few feet away from us. Taylor made her move then.

"The answer is yes!" Taylor exclaimed for a starting point. Gabby looked confused.

"Huh?" she asked.

"Our scholastic decathlon team has its first competition next week," Taylor said enthusiastically, "and there is certainly a spot for you." She emphasized her point by waving the same papers around that Shar had forced me into slipping into her locker. I still remember my own embarrasment when Shar told me, 'eleventh from the right, Ryan. That's left."

Gabriella looked panicked now. "Where did those come from?" she demanded fearfully. Now Taylor was confused.

"Didn't you put them in my locker?" she asked. Gabby shook her head fiercely.

"Of course not!" I felt guilty now. Well, I did before, but even more now that I knew for sure that Gabby didn't want to be on the team. But how to appease her and my sister? Hmm...

Taylor was dismissing her previous confusion. "Well, we'd love to have you on our team. We meet almost every day after school." When Gabriella still looked like she was protesting, Taylor begged, looking as though she'd give up one of her vital organs for this, "Please?"

Gabby told her what she told me that morning. "I need to catch up on the curriculum here before I think about joining any clubs." I saw Shar about to intrude, and thought she'd only make it worse, so I stepped in.

"Well," I started, and Taylor jumped. Gabby looked at me pleadingly. "Maybe you could go to the club to catch up on the curriculum, and that way you can see what kind of things the club does. Then, when you're all caught up, you can tell if you wanna join it." I looked at Gabby, saw her waver in indecision, and knew I had her. Shar was looking at me proudly, and Gabby and Taylor both seemed to like the idea. Mission accomplished. _

After detention, (which ended with Troy Bolton's father coming in, ranting about how if they spent another minute around the drama club, they'd turn into singing, dancing fairies like... me) me and Shar decided that we had to work on our audition for the school musical, but we had to go to our lockers to get some stuff for it.

Everything was going pretty good, which was a sign that something had to happen to shake things up a bit.

To get from my locker to the auditorium, you had to pass through the gym. And it was during basketball practice.

So, it was without Shar (we had lockers next to each other's, but some girl had come up to her asking for advice on clothes for a party) that I had to go through the gym while teenage boys, hopped up on hormones and testosterone and filled with energy, practiced a sport. I had hoped- rather naively- that I could sneak past without them noticing me, but luck was not on my side.

"Hey, you!" I heard Coach Bolton call to me. I froze for half a second before turning to him with my regular open and friendly smile. "You're Ryan Evans, correct?"

"Yes sir." I was curious as to why this was important.

"What're you doing in the gym? And where's your sister?" Oh. So it was apparently unheard of for me to go anywhere without my older-by-two-minutes sister, and that I would go into a gym.

"Shar's at her locker, talking to some friends. And I have to pass through here to get to the auditorium. Sorry if I interrupted something important." I worked to force an apologetic grimace on my face before turning to head out the door. But, Coach Bolton wasn't going to let me go that easily.

"Woah, woah, woah. Team rule; no one, on the team or otherwise, has to make one basket from the three-pointer line if passing through the gym during practice. That would be-" I walked over to the three-point line myself.

"Yes, right here. I play sports with my dad on the weekends, you know. I'm not entirely stupid." He must have seen the upset look on my face, because he was the one with the apologetic grimace on his face now.

"Right, well..." He passed me a ball. The team was watching with gleeful expressions. Apparently, this was their favorite form of torture, and they couldn't wait for me to humiliate myself.

Unfortunately for them, I do play basketball, and, if I do say so myself, I am competent enough to play.

I caught the ball with one hand and dribbled a bit. The team looked surprised, as did Coach Bolton, as they cleared the way for me to shoot.

Concentrating hard, I got into the standard shooting position, and just took a regular shot, not even having to jump very high. The ball soared in a perfect arc through the air, not even touching the rim as it went through the net. I tried and failed to hide the satisfied and slightly smug smirk on my face. The team and coach were looking slightly awed now, watching the ball bounce on the floor a few times. Their eyes flew back to me as I turned my back to walk out of the gym, assuming we were done. But before I could leave, I felt a hand on my arm. My eyes flew up to the faces of Troy Bolton and his father.

"Why didn't you join the team if you're that interested in sports?" I knew he really meant if I was that good at sports. I shrugged modestly.

"Shar told me not to. She said jocks and musicals don't mix." A couple of the team members nodded, and I wanted to punch their faces in. Some looked guilty, as though they had thought this before. Others were still awestruck at my so-called amazingly awesome talent. It really wasn't much. Anyone who practiced enough in their free time could have done what I did.

I couldn't help but notice that Troy didn't look like he was agreeing with Shar, or guilty, or awestruck. He just looked uncomfortable. His dad, however, nodded in understanding.

"Oh. Well, you don't always have to listen to your sister, you know." My eyes must have shown panic at this news, for he and Troy took several steps back, as though worried I'd attack at the slightest movement.

"Not listen to Shar? But... Do you know what happens when you don't listen to her?" When they shook their heads, I just looked more panicked. I started having breathing problems. "She'd most likely do something drastic. Such as break my arms or legs or both, give me a concussion, or something equally dramatic." I whispered to myself, so that they couldn't hear me, "Or burn all my hats. She's evil like that." I got the feeling only Troy heard me, as he suppressed a laugh. "Besides, I'm not used to social, human interaction. The only people I talk to besides relatives are teachers," I gestured to Coach Bolton, "Gabriella, because she's a new student, and..." I couldn't think of anyone else who I had talked to. "that's about it..." Now everyone looked uncomfortable. "No one really tried to talk to me anyway." I shrugged my shoulders. "Well, I better go. Shar'll bite all of our heads off if she finds out I was late because I was held up in a gym." Not having to force a terrified shudder, I turned and walked away, leaving shocked, guilty, and uncomfortable faces behind me.


	4. Chapter 3

It was the day of auditions, and Shar had left the house early. And, as I can't drive being dyslexic, I have to either take the bus or get mom or dad to drive me.

Going with mom driving. Hate social interaction with people my age and with my dad.

When I got to homeroom, Shar was saying, "Just something for you." and handing a coffee cup to Miss Darbus. I sighed. She was such a suck up before auditions.

Well, we took our seats, I waved to Gabby, and she smiled back. Seemingly a normal beginning to any day.

But, I wasn't the only one who noticed Troy and Gabriella's weird behavior.

When Gabby was in her seat, Troy walked in, and when he saw her, for some reason he couldn't stop smiling like an idiot. So, like... me.

The other person who noticed Troy's weird, almost love-struck behavior and Gabby's giggling, was Chad Danforth.

He looked between them both, like me, and seemed almost confused. We both watched as Miss Darbus forced Troy into his seat, and as he turned around to smile at Gabby, things clicked for me.

Troy Bolton was in love with new student, the Einsteinette, Gabriella Montez, my only friend. Yes, I am fully admitting now that she is my only friend.

Chad didn't connect the dots.

Then Miss Darbus started her speech. When she mentioned this mornings auditions, she looked right at Shar and me and smiled. When she said 'pairs' Shar turned to smile at me excitedly. I nodded at her, and didn't have to fix a smile on my face for this day. I was already smiling.

As Miss Darbus continued her talk, I felt someone's eyes on me. I frowned, for the first time in a long time, and turned a three-sixty look around the room.

It seemed like all the jocks, even Troy- who was successfully out of is Gabby-enforced daze- were staring at me like I was a mutant from another planet. I met each and everyone one of their eyes, and they pulled their gazes away roughly.

This morning just turned weird. _

If the morning was weird when all the jocks were staring at me, and Bolton was in love with Montez, then things were in the Twilight Zone for the rest of the day.

No matter where I went, jocks always seemed to be about to converge on me. It seemed the only time I was safe was when Sharpay was nearby. So I tried to stick to her like glue, but it was hard enough when I was always in Special Ed classes and she was in regular. Also on the point where nothing on our schedule besides lunch and free period came together by an inch. It was even harder now that jocks were coming around every corner, trying to keep her away from me.

When Zeke cornered me by my locker, I knew I was finished with running.

"Hey, Ryan." Was all he said, leaning against the locker next to mine.

I was not used to any kind of talk with anyone besides a relative or a teacher or Gabriella. I'd never had to talk to anyone before, so even a greeting was beyond my communication skills.

If Zeke was discourage by my lack of a response, he didn't show it.

"I just wanted to ask you something about your sister." Now he'd hit the right note. Talk about my sister, and I may actually answer.

"W-w-what d-did you want to ask?" Great, I thought. I sound like Courage the Cowardly Dog.

Zeke had to have noticed my stutter, but he didn't mention it. He was too nice of a guy.

"Oh, nothing much, I just... What kinda stuff does she like?" I tried my best to fight down the panic. He wasn't trying to hurt me. But still, I felt the urge to just turn and run away screaming. My breathing did not level out, and my eyes kept widening. A group of people nearby aww-d a bit, and that only added to my panic.

"Uhh..." Confusion coupled with panic was not a good match.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to." Zeke assured me hurriedly. He must have noticed the frantic gleam in my eye, because he backed away slowly, with his hands in the 'I surrender' gesture. My panic took it as a 'look, I'm not carrying a big, murderous weapon, so you don't have to worry.' sign.

"Chocolate." I don't think I could say anymore. Zeke stopped backing away and looked at me with a hopeful gleam to his eyes.

"What?" he asked cautiously.

"S-s-shar likes an-anything to do with ch-ch-chocolate. As long as it's-s-s quality, not sem-semi-sweet. And she won't have it before a p-performance. She t-told me that it can cause you to break o-o-out, and it closes up her throat. Not like that's a b-b-bad thing in my book..." I was rambling now, and Zeke just sat there and let it come out. By the time it all rushed out, I was blushing terribly.

Zeke just smiled and said, "Okay, chocolate. Thanks." He walked away, and I finished at my locker.

I started to walk down the hall, making sure that it wasn't time for basketball practice (I was pretty sure they were trying to rope me into showing them how I did my three-pointer, but that is a Ryan Evans secret!), when I saw Troy Bolton.

He was walking down the hall, but after I looked at him more closely, I realized it was more like he was prowling- like a cheetah, or a panther... or a Wildcat. He seemed to be doing something he'd normally not do, so my curiousity was peaked.

When I started following him, I could tell I wasn't the only one.

Chad Danforth was doing more sneaking than walking or prowling. He leaned in the doorway to Troy's free period room, seeming confused about something. I chose a more casual place for me to lean, which just so happened to be against the locker of some girl whose name I did not know. I barely noticed she looked very excited that someone had leaned there, before seeing that Chad had missed Troy's escape when another jock came up to greet him briefly. I discreetly shook my head- never take your eye off the prize, or in this case, the person you're stalking. Chad looked confused and shocked as he scanned the room for Troy, and I tried to hold in my laughter as I saw Troy right behind him, walking further down the hall.

"Hi!" The girl said brightly. That was when I noticed that she was very pretty. Damn me and my teenage hormones!

"Hi. I don't think I know you... What's your name?" I worked a charming smile on my face with barely any effort. She looked like she was about to hypreventilate.

"R-Rachel. And this is my friend Sabrina." She gestured to a girl with a locker next to her, who also appeared to be breathing hard and very attractive. Damn it!

"Cool. So, I was wondering if one of you had any plans for after school..." I was forced to trail off as Shar suddenly appeared at my side. I had no idea how she did this.

"They can't do anything after school today. Now come on Ryan. It's time for auditions." I frowned at my sister, then turned back to the girls.

"Well, if you don't have anything to do now, you could always come and watch..." Shar made a strangled noise as the girls nodded enthusiastically.

"Aaugh, fine, but they can't sit closer than the fifth row." I shrugged, gave the girls another smile, and walked off with my sis. Rachel and Sabrina followed closely behind, whispering excitedly about something or other. I struggled to hide my smirk, but then I noticed Jason Cross sitting on a bench not far away, watching intensely.

Damn it.

Why was it I had to gain such over-confidence whenever pretty girls were around? That's it, I'm blaming it on hormones and teenage stupidity coupled with dyslexia.

Shar was watching me carefully too, for reasons I didn't understand.

So it seemed all of the jocks were stalking me, I'd gained female fans, got Shar over-protective, and was on my way to the winter musicale auditions with said over-protective sister and female fans. Oh, and the person I have a crush on just saw me flirting with two other girls.

Why did I aways have to be such a masochist? _

It was time for auditions. Me and Shar had to sit through a bunch of terrible performances before it was our turn.

"Ryan, Sharpay, why don't you tell us what these... aspiring actors and actresses did wrong?" Shar was very eager and happy to, but I stepped forward.

"Shar, you got to last time. Well, all of you did great. But you," I gestured to a small freshman girl, "had a bit too much stage fright. I don't think you would have been able to perform on opening night, no offence." I sent her an apologetic smile, and she blushed tomato red. Rachel and Sabrina scowled at her. "And some of you guys' singing talents weren't fit for the songs on the tracks. Others didn't really look the part of the person they were trying out for, or were off key, or maybe you didn't quite know the lyrics." I sent a charming smile to those in the crowd, which instantly calmed their oncoming riot.

"Wonderful. Now, how about you show us what being in the theatre is really about."

"We'd be happy to, Miss Darbus." Shar chimed in.

Walking by Kelsi, the pianist, she asked me, "What key?" I shook my head.

"Oh, we had our rehearsal pianist do an arrangement. Shar isn't good with ballads and I like songs with a lot of movement for auditions." Kelsi looked appeased, and blushed at the smile I gave her. I was wondering why everyone did that. I smiled at everyone. Why did everyone blush about it? I mean, it's nothing to be embarrased about.

And then me and Shar started singing.

I started off with, "It's hard to believe that I couldn't see..."

Then we sang together, "You were always there beside me. Thought I was alone with no one to hold, but you were always right beside me."

Next came Shar's part of, "And this feelings like no other."

Together again, "I want you to know, I've never had someone that knows me like you do. The way you do! I've never had someone as good for me as you. No one like you! So lonely before, I finally found what I've been looking for."

Shar did a little dance, and then sang, "So good to be seen, so good to be heard."

Together again, "Don't have to say a word!"

Then I sang, "For so long I was lost, so good to be found. I'm loving having you around! This feeling's like no other."

One last time, we sang together, "I want you to know... I've never had someone that knows me like you do. The way you do! I've never had someone as good for me as you. No one like you! So lonely before, I finally found what I've been looking for. Doo doo doodoo, doo doo Doodoo do do. Woa-ah-ah-oh. Doo doo doodoo. Doo doo doodoo do do. Woa-ah-ah-oh."

You had to admit, it wasn't the kind of song we were supposed to do. But, as I had explained to Kelsi, Shar wasn't good with a ballad, and I liked songs where I could move to the beat. We needed something for auditions we liked and were good at. Kelsi was smiling at me shyly, and I returned it with a wink.

Damn pretty girls... Even the shy ones.

There was full force applause, even from the back. Confused, I looked back there, and saw Gabriella and Troy Bolton, sitting next to each other. They looked alarmed I had seen them, so I sent them a reassuring smile and turned back to the open crowd.

Shar was hissing in my ear, "I told you not to do the jazz squares."

So I hissed back, "It's a crowd favorite, everybody loves a good jazz square." Shar sighed, looked to Kelsi or approval, and got more applause.

Then Kelsi stepped out of her own shell to tell Shar something. I mentally winced when she said, "Actually, if you do the part, I imagined it much slower..." Never say 'if you get the part' to Shar. Now I had to step in.

"If we get the part?" Shar scoffed, and that was my cue.

"I'm sure Kels just meant that a musical is subject to changes. When we get the part," I threw doubtful look to Kelsi and nodded subtly to Gabriella and Troy. She got the message and smiled at me thankfully. "we might not have to do that song, if Kelsi doesn't like it. It is her play, after all." Shar looked mollified, Miss Darbus, Gabriella, and Kelsi sent me smiles, and Troy Bolton looked surprised. I was very happy with myself.

"Of course I meant it like that." Kelsi said smartly as Shar looked at her with pursed lips. "You were the only ones to audition, plus you two were amazing." Shar now looked pleased, and sashayed away.

"Be careful when talking to Shar. She can be kinda temperamental." Kelsi bit back a laugh as Shar glared at me, and we walked off of the stage, Kelsi going to gather her stuff.

It was when I heard voices again, when going back to get a folder I had left behind, that I smiled truly for the first time since I came to East High.

It was singing. And it was b-e-a-utiful.

It was the exact same song that me and Shar had just sang, only slower, and smoother.

It had to be Gabriella and Troy.

"Montez and Bolton, you have a callback." I heard Miss Darbus say at the end. I grinned again. "Kelsi, give them the duet from the second act. Work on it with them."

It was silent for a minute, but then Kelsi said, "Wait, Miss Darbus. Don't the auditions and callbacks require dancing? I'm not very good at that..." I grinned to myself, and re-entered the auditorium.

I pretended to look surprised when I saw them there, staring at me. Thank God for my acting skills. "Oh, sorry if I interrupted something. I just came to see if I left a folder." I went to move towards the seats, but Miss Darbus' next words stopped me.

"Perfect. Ryan can help you with the dances that your callback will require." Then she proceeded to dramatically turn and walk off. I turned to Kelsi, Gabriella, and Troy.

"What just happened?" I asked. Gabby and Kelsi giggled at my confused face.

"Apparently," Troy answered when it seemed the girls could not, "me and Gabriella just auditioned for the winter musical. And we have callbacks." I grinned at him, shocking them all.

"Cool. So Kelsi's gonna help you guys with the singing, and I'm supposed to help with the dances?" They nodded. "Alright then. How about we meet at my house tomorrow? No one'll be there, and we have plenty of space to rehearse. And a piano, so everything's perfect." I raised my eyebrow, and they nodded, Troy albeit robotically. It seemed he was shocked about the callbacks. Hopefully he could pull through better than I did. Jocks and musicals do not mix.

Or at least that's what I thought. _

"Callbacks? Aaaah!" Shar screeched Monday morning. I winced and read it aloud.

"Callbacks for roles Minnie and Arnold. Next Thursday, three thirty pm. Ryan and Sharpay Evans. Gabriella Montez and Troy Bolton."

"Is this some kind of a joke?" Shar again screeched. "They didn't even audition!" I longed to tell her that they did- and that they were better than us. But I held my tongue long enough for Shar to screech at me to speak right when the jocks came in.

They saw me staring at the auditions list, seemingly in a trance (at least I hope I looked like that), and laughed.

"What's wrong?" Chad asked, humor in his voice. It was gone when he viewed to list.

Normally, when people crowd around me, I have a panic attack. But I was already 'in a trance,' so my acting skills forbid me from having one when all of the jocks crowded around to peer over my shoulder. Absently, I noticed that someone was brushing a hand down my back, but I was too deep into my role to fully notice and turn around.

"What?" Chad exclaimed when he read the callback list. He turned to face his Army of Jocks, and saw whoever was rubbing my back. "Stop trying to molest him, J, and let's beat it." he said to whoever 'J' was furiously. The hand abruptly got pulled away, and I stared at the callbacks list a little longer until Shar snapped me out of my 'daze'.


	5. Not An Update

**I really am sorry that this isn't a chapter. Really. But I lost inspiration for the fic, and while I was trying to get it back, I actually wrote a bit of the fifth chapter. Then, when I was almost finished, something happened to my computer and we had to send it off to the factory for a replacement, and I lost everything I had on all of my stories. (Insert frustration here). So, as soon as I can get the chapter ready, you're all just going to have to wait, as much as I hate to say it.**

**If it's any consolation to the people who hate me now, my doctor says there's something wrong with my blood, so I might have to go on a diet. And based on what he told me my weight was, it's a ninety-nine point nine percent chance I have to, if I don't want diabetes or something else that comes with being over-weight.**

**Anyway, my excuse for this long wait is that I have so many other stories that aren't fanfiction to work on, and I keep getting distracted by one that I particularly like. If anyone wants to know what that one is, give me your email and I'll send you the first chapter. I'm actually pretty far in, and I think I'll actually get done with it faster than with ARER.**

**BYE! Purple monkeys dancing to Disco are fuuuuuuunny! BYEEEEEE!**


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